Toronto Sun: Group Wants Expansion – Not Airport Itself – Grounded

posted by NationBuilder Support on January 26, 2014

Toronto Sun Columnist Sue-Ann Levy Talks to NoJetsTO Chair Anshul KapoorTORONTO - The 34-year-old founder of the anti-airport expansion group NoJetsTO wants to make it clear he is not at all against an island airport.
Anshul Kapoor is only against an expanded airport with jets landing there.
In fact, the father of one, who lives on Queens Quay across from the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (BBTCA), says he was “absolutely not” part of the original battle in 2003 when opponents wanted to turn the airport into a park.
He said he regularly flies Porter and can walk from his condo to the BBTCA.
But his concern is that the uncapped growth of the airport has created a “hellhole” at the bottom of Bathurst Quay — traffic congestion, an influx of passengers and ongoing construction — and that is having an impact on the Queens Quay revitalization.
There’s been no long-term vision created for the airport or the area around it, which has turned the growth into a free-for-all, he added.
“We’re saying keep the airport and make it a better regional, boutique, niche airport that it is supposed to be,” Kapoor said.
“If you try to throw it out as a jetport or a mini-Pearson, you’re trying to grow it out of its footprint into something it was never intended to be.”